Central weft feeler stop motion



Feb. 16, 1965 R. HONEGGER CENTRAL WEF'T FEELER STOP MOTION Filed June 6, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet l Feb, 16, 1965 HQNEGGER 3,169,556

CENTRAL WEFT FEELER STQP MQTION Filed June 6, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 16, 1965 R. HONEGGER 3919,56

CENTRAL WEFT FEELER STOP MOTION Filed June 6, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Feb. 16, 1965 R. HONEGGER CENTRAL WEFT FEELER STOP MOTION 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 6, 1961 Feb. 16, 1965 R. HONEGGER 3,169,556

CENTRAL WEF'I' FEELER STOP MOTION 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 6, 1961 United States Patent 3,169,556 CENTRAL WEFT FEELER STOP MOTION Rolf Honegger, Tanu-Rufi, Zurich, Switzerland, assrgnor to Ruti Machinery Works Ltd., formerly Caspar Honegger, Zurich, Switzerland Filed June 6, 1961, Ser. No. 115,215 Claims priority, application Switzerland, June 13, 1%), 6,742/60 2 Claims. (Cl. 139-376) This invention relates to a central weft stop motion on a loom, having a feeler controlled by an eccentric and pivotal towards the weft thread. Such central weft stop motions are known, but they have the following disadvantages:

As the weft is being sensed by the feeler, the weft forms a buckle or sag which, in high-speed looms, cannot be straightened out in time, so that defects occur in the fabric. Hitherto it has been attempted to eliminate this difi'iculty by shortening the feeler. But there are limits imposed on any shortening of the feeler since if the feeler or sensor is too short the weft will not be sensed with certainty, especially immediately after a bobbin-change because during the first pick, the weft is inserted at a different angle than in the case of a normal pick, when the weft issues laterally from the shuttle.

A primary object of the present invention is to obviate the described disadvantages and consists principally in that at least the end portion of the feeler cooperating with the weft can be withdrawn from the range of the weft upon each contact with it while the shuttle is in flight. The buckle formed in the weft during the contact pressure of the feeler can therefore be straightened out before the weft is beaten-up by the reed. This withdrawal of the feeler, for example, is attained by a rocker shaft of the feeler being in turn pivotally mounted on axles fixed to the lay.

Other features of the invention will appear from the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein there are shown, purely by way of example, two embodiments incorporating the invention.

FIG. 1 is a side view partly in vertical section illustrating one embodiment of a central weft stop motion, the contacting position of the feeler of the central weft stop motion being illustrated with the weft present;

FIG. la is an elevation view partly in section of a stop motion responsive to the stop motion device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is a part of FIG. 1 on a larger scale, illustrating the same position of the feeler;

FIG. 3 is a part of FIG. 1, illustrating the end posi-- tion of the feeler with the weft present;

FIG. 4 is a side view similar to FIG. 3, and illustrates the position of the feeler when the shuttle is passing through;

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a part of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary side view similar to FIG. 4, in which the position of the feeler is shown with the weft absent or broken;

FIG. 7 is a side view of a second embodiment of the central weft stop motion;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, illustrating the end position of the feeler with the weft present;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the embodiment in FIG. 7 in which the position of the feeler is shown when the shuttle is passing through;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the embodiment similar to FIG. 7, and illustrates the position of the feeler when the weft is absent or broken, and

FIG. 11 is an end view of the feeler mechanism in "ice FIG. 10, as seen in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 10.

Referring to the first embodiment, feeler 1 is pivotal about a shaft 2 mounted on a bearing-lever 3. A torsion spring shown in FIG. 5 mounted on shaft 2 tends to swing or bias the feeler 1 against the weft 4. The bearing-lever 3 is rockably mounted on shaft. 6 fixed by an arm 6a to the loom lay 7.

As described below, the shaft 6 is rocked by an cecentric. The lay 7 has connected thereto the arm Go on which is disposed a blocking piece 10 adapted to cooperate with the blocking sword or stop lever arm 1a of the feeler 1. The lever arm 1a is urged in the direction of a stop 5 which is engaged by it in the absence of weft to be sensed by the sensor 1. The stop lever arm in is shaped so that the direction of the force exerted thereon by the blocking piece 10 passes through the rocker shaft 2. The lay 7 mounts, as shown in FIG. I, lay supports 7a, a shuttle glide 13 and a reed 11. The shuttle guide 13 has a recess 14 into which the feeler 1 can descend. The shaft 6 has fixed thereto a lever 8 which is linked to a push-pull rod 17 connected to a lever 18 through an articulation 18a also engaged by the end of a push-rod 19. The lever 13 is pivotally arranged on the lay 7 on a shaft 21a. The lever 18 carries a pin 26 which serves as stop for controlling a stop bracket 21. The latter is hingedly mounted on the shaft 21a on lever 13, and cooperates with a setscrew 18b and is in operative relationship with a lever 22 for stopping the loom.

A spring 23 constantly urges the stop bracket 21, with its shorter lever arm, against a pin 29 on lever 13. A spring 1% is mounted on the rod 19 between a collar on the rod 19 and an enlarged portion of an eccentric follower 24. The push-rod 19 is operatively connected with the eccentric follower 24 and has its free end movably carried in a longitudinal bore 25 of the follower which allows axial movement of the rod 19. The lower end of the follower 24 has a shaft 26a which rotatably carries a roller 26. A spring 27 constantly urges the roller against two eccentric disks or earns 28 and 2?, situated beside each other and connected to each other. The roller is wide enough so that it can lie on the peripheries of said two eccentric disks 28, 29. The two eccentric disks 28, 29 are rotatably carried on an axis 30 which is preferably arranged in the axis of oscillation of the lay. A sprocket wheel 32 is mounted on the hub of the eccentric disk 29.

The sprocket and eccentric disks are connected by screws to form one unit. In the eccentric disk 29 oblong holes are arranged, to allow the relative positions of the two eccentric disks 28 and 29 to be adjusted. This enables the beginning and the duration of the stroke of feeler l to be altered and adjusted. The wheel 32 is connected through a chain 34 to a sprocket 34a which in turn is operatively connected to the lay 7 through a crankgear 34b, 35 and a hinge-pin 36. With each revolution of the wheel 34a, the eccentric disks 2S and 29 make one revolution.

The device for stopping the loom in case the weft is absent or broken, is constructed as follows:

The stop bracket 21 cooperates with a stop lever 22 which, as shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 1a is formed as a bellcrank lever rockable about a fixed axis 37. One arm of the lever projects into the range of movement of the stop bracket 21, while the other arm has pivoted thereto a draw-rod 38 which is in operative relationship with a catch-lever 39. The latter in its turn works in connection with a catch 40 which is rockable about a stationary axis 40a. At its upper end the catch 40 has a notch into which the end of the catch-lever 39 can fall. The catch 4%) has further fixed thereto an actuating lever 46.). The other end of the catch is formed as sliding head 40c and engages a sliding guide 41 of a friction coupling. One hub 41a of the sliding guide is rigidly fixed by a hollow 3 shaft 42 to a disk 43 of thefriction coupling, such units being fixed against rotation on shaft 43a but being axially slidable on said shaft. The other hub 41b of the guide is fixed on the shaft 43a and is positively connected to the friction disk 43 through a spring 44. Hub 41b is constructed so as not to interfere with the axial movement of the unit consisting of hub 41a, hollow shaft 42 and disk 43. Spring 44, acting against disk 43 and hub 41, forces the disk into the drive position. The second portion of the coupling includes a plate 45 which can corne into engagement with the friction disk 43 and is fixed on a toothed wheel 46 which is operatively connected through a pinion 47 to a motor 48 for driving the loom, not shown. Toothed wheel 46, rotatably mounted on shaft 43a, drives shaft 42 through coupling 43, 45. Shaft 42 drives shaft 43a to which the sprocket 34a and crank 34b for driving the lay are connected in a way not shown.

The action of the weft stop motion, whose construction has just been disclosed, is as follows:

The lay 7 is driven from the shaft of wheel 34a by the crank-gear 34b, 35. During each reciprocation of the lay 7 in which a weft is inserted, the feeler 1 is raised into the starting position shown in FIG. 4. This is achieved by the roller 26 hearing on the eccentric 28 when the rod 29 is in its lowest position. It should be remembered the eccentrics 28 and 29 are also driven from the wheel 34a, through the chain 34 and sprocket 32. When the roller 26 is in its lowest position because of the profile of the eccentric 28, the rods 24, 19 and 17 are lowered. When the shuttle is passing through the shed, not shown, the feeler 1 is in its highest position, as shown in FIG. 4. As soon as the shuttle has passed the place on the lay where the feeler 1 is the shaft 6 will be rocked by eccentric 29 so that the feeler 1 is placed in its operative position sensing the weft. The raising of the roller 26 and therewith of the linkage 24, 19, 17 is effected by the eccentric disk 29, while the lowering of said roller is brought about by the eccentric disk 28. As the roller 26 moves downwardly the shaft 2 moves out of the position shown in FIG. 4, at first into the position illustrated in FIG. 1. Now, if a weft thread 4 is present, it will prevent the blocking sword or lever arm In from coming into contact with the blocking piece 10. As the shaft 2 moves further into the position shown in FIG. 3, the blocking sword 1a can slide along on the underside of the blocking piece 10. The linkage 17, 19 will be held in such a way that the stop bracket 21 will be outside the range of the lever 22 for stopping the loom.

On the other hand, if no weft is present, the feeler moves into the recess 14 and the blocking sword 1a engages the blocking piece (FIG. 6). This prevents the shaft 2 from being moved further into the position shown in FIG. 3. As soon as the pivotal movement of the bearing lever 3 is prevented by the blocking piece 10 through the sword 1a, the rod 17 can no longer be raised. The lever 18 then takes up a position such that the pin 20 cannot rock the stop bracket 21 out of the range of the stop lever 22. If then the lay 7, with lever 13 and stop bracket 21, is moved to the right, the latter strikes against the stop lever 22, which thus pivots and raises the rod 38 for operating a stop motion as later described and illustrated in FIG. 1a. Consequently the catch-lever 39 will be removed from the notch in the catch 40 which then moves to the left under the pull of spring 40d. The sliding head 40c presses against the hub 41a of the guide 41 so as to cause spring 42 to be compressed between hub 41b and plate 43 as the coupling plates 43 and 45 move clear of each other and the loom is disconnected from the motor 48.

According to a second embodiment shown in FIG. 7, a shuttle guide 53 and a reed 54 are fixed to a lay-support 51. The guide 53 has a recess 55 into which a feeler 56 can descend. The feeler 56 is fixed on lever 58 where it can pivot about the shaft 57. The lever 58 is oscillatable about an axis 59 on a carrier 60. The carrier 60 is fixed to the lay. The carrier has mounted thereon a lever 61 which can oscillate about the shaft 62 and, with the short lever 61, forms a toggle which is pivoted to the lever 58. Mounted on shaft 57 is a torsion spring (FIG. 11) which tends to swing the feeler 56 counterclockwise so that it will rest either againstthe inserted weft 64 (FIG. 1) or against the lever 61 (FIG. 8). A carrier 65 has located thereon a blocking piece 66 cooperating with the hook 67 of feeler 56.

The device just described is driven from the shaft 62 in known manner by eccentric disks.

The action of the central weft stop motion, whose construction has been disclosed, is as follows:

During each reciprocatory movement of the lay 50 in which a weft thread is inserted, the feeler 56 is raised into the raised position shown in FIG. 9, in which it will remain while the shuttle is passing through the shed. The feeler is raised by turning the axis 62 and lever 61, thus causing the feeler 56 to pivot clockwise against the action of a torsion spring. As soon as the shuttle has passed the place on the lay on which the feeler 56 is situated, the axis 62 will be rocked in known manner clockwise, until the toggle comprising the levers 61 and 63 is positioned as shown in FIG. 7. Thereby the axis 57 on lever 58 comes into its extreme position to the left in the drawing.

Now, if the weft thread 64 is present, it will prevent the hook 67 of the feeler 56 from moving into engagement with the blocking piece 66, while lever 61 is oscillated counterclockwise into the position shown in FIG. 8. The axis 57 comes into its extreme position to the right in the drawing, and the loom will not be stopped.

On the other hand, if no weft thread is present, the hook 67 moves into the blocking piece 66 as shown in FIG. 10. Thereby oscillatory movement of lever 58 and hence also of lever 61 with the axis 62 is prevented, and the loom will be stopped in known manner by a stop bracket.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:

1. In a loom having a shuttle a loom stop motion device comprising, a sensing element for acting to sense the presence or absence of each weft yarn during the insertion thereof, and means effective after each successive pick comprising a lever system for raising the sensing element in preparation for the delivery of weft yarn and for lowering it cyclically in timed relationship with the successive picks to an operative position to contact and sense the individual weft yarns, the first mentioned means comprising means to cause the sensing element to disengage itself from contacting the weft yarn in preparation for raising of said sensing element immediately subsequent to sensing it and prior to the completion of the flight of the shuttle delivering the weft yarn being sensed and including means to cause said sensing element to move past said operative position in the absence of a weft yarn to be sensed in said operative position, a stop motion effective to stop the loom when said sensing element moves past said operative posi tion, said lever system comprising a pivoted lever rockably operated cyclically for raising and lowering said feeler, means pivotally mounting said feeler on said pivoted lever, said means to cause the feeler to disengage itself from the weft yarn comprising a lever arm connected to said feeler and cam means comprising a surface for actuating said lever arm for guiding said feeler to another position past said weft yarn in readiness for raising thereof in a next successive sensing operation and ineffective for rendering the stop motion effective.

2. A loom stop motion according to claim 1, in which said stop is disposed to be engaged by said lever arm when said feeler moves past said operative position in the absence of weft yarn to be sensed to preclude rocking of said pivoted lever and to hold said feeler past said opera- 5 5 tive p osition thereby to cause rendering said stop motion FOREIGN PATENTS efiecnve- 606,132 11/34 Germany.

References Cited by the Examiner 87, 6/33 r a Briiain- UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 m 719,647 2/03 Clark 139*376 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Exammer. 1,151,288 8/ 15 Ryon 139375 RUSSELL C. MADER, DONALD W. PARKER, 1,223,708 8/ 17 McGuiness 139-375 Examiners.

2,275,931 3/42 Vasilspoulos 139376 

1. IN A LOOM HAVING A SHUTTLE A LOOM STOP MOTION DEVICE COMPRISING, A SENSING ELEMENT FOR ACTING TO SENSE THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF EACH WEFT YARN DURING THE INSERTION THEREOF, AND MEANS EFFECTIVE AFTER EACH SUCCESSIVE PICK COMPRISING A LEVER SYSTEM FOR RAISING THE SENSING ELEMENT ING PREPARATION FOR THE DELIVERY OF WEFT YARN AND FOR LOWERING IT CYCLICALLY IN TIMED RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SUCCESSIVE PICKS TO AN OPERATIVE POSITION TO CONTACT AND SENSE THE INDIVIDUAL WEFT YARNS, THE FIRST MENTIONED MEANS COMPRISING MEANS TO CAUSE THE SENSING ELEMENT TO DISENGAGE ITSELF FROM CONTACTING THE WEFT YARN IN PREPARATION FOR RAISING OF SAID SENSING ELEMENT IMMEDIATELY SUBSEQUENT TO SENSING IT AND PRIOR TO THE COMPLETION OF THE FLIGHT OF THE SHUTTLE DELIVERING THE WEFT YARN BEING SENSED AND INCLUDING MEANS TO CAUSE SAID SENSING ELEMENT TO MOVE PAST SAID OPERATIVE 